Western Cape woman monitored for hantavirus
One person in the Western Cape is being monitored for Hantavirus.
Image: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers
HEALTH minister Aaron Motsoaledi says that while one woman in the Western Cape is being monitored for symptoms linked to the Hantavirus crisis, tests have come back negative.
South African authorities have been on high alert since the wife of the Dutch man who died of the disease on the cruise ship MV Hondius two weeks ago collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on April 25.
According to Motsoaledi, 90 of the 97 people she came in contact with have been traced, with four of those being from the Western Cape.
He told the SABC: “We are concerned about the contacts, whether they are from the plane, the ambulance and health workers. So far, we have identified 97 contacts - 90 of whom have been reached and we’ll monitor them for six weeks. Four of the contacts are in the Western Cape. Only one contact in the Western Cape developed some symptoms. But remember, the initial symptoms are flu-like. Up until Friday, tests for the virus have come back negative.”
Meanwhile, Rhodes University has clarified that there are no reports of hantavirus on its Makhanda campus, dispelling recent claims.
The institution dismissed a poster circulating on social media. It further urged students, staff, and the wider community not to panic or spread unverified claims as concern grows globally over recent hantavirus cases.
"We wish to categorically state that this information is completely false," the university said.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the Hantavirus is usually linked to rodent exposure in endemic countries and has been reported among specific travellers from the MV Hondius cruise ship.
It is a rare but serious illness and only the Andes strain is known to pass from human to human.
The Department of Health added: “In our view, there is no need for the public to panic because only two patients from the cruise ship have been within our borders.
“The World Health Organisation is coordinating a multi-country response with all affected islands and countries to contain further spread of the disease.
So far, three of the eight confirmed cases have been fatal.
National Health Department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, said the remains of the second deceased passenger, the 69-year-old Dutch woman who collapsed at OR Tambo International Airport, were repatriated to the Netherlands on Thursday.
Mohale said the third known case, a British national medically evacuated from the ship to a medical facility in Johannesburg, is currently in a stable but critical condition and receiving necessary medical attention.
A Dutch KLM flight attendant, who had been in contact with the woman who died from a hantavirus infection in Johannesburg, has tested negative for the virus.